Dallas Holocaust Museum: Working to Prevent History from Repeating Itself


I’m going to be completely upfront and say that I have a personal connection to the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance. I began volunteering there in 2012, and I currently assist with special events as well as work a monthly shift at the front desk. So let me tell you about why I am so passionate about this little museum.

Many of our World War II Veterans and Holocaust Survivors are now in their 80’s and 90’s, and beginning to die out. As time has distanced us from the events that occurred during the Holocaust, it has become easier for Holocaust deniers and conspiracy theorists to spread their lies. Today, in many parts of the world, people believe that the Holocaust never happened or was exaggerated for some sort of political gain. For this reason, the preservation of history is more critical than ever before, and the Dallas Holocaust Museum offers visitors the chance to connect with the real stories of local survivors.

Founded in 1984 by a group of Dallas-based Holocaust Survivors, the museum was originally located in the basement of the Jewish Community Center. The museum moved to its current location on North Record Street in 2005, and this is a temporary space as the museum raises funds for a permanent building.

Because of how small the temporary space is, the main section of the museum was designed to focus on just one day of the Holocaust: April 19, 1943. The reason for this is because of three major events that occurred on that date that help tell the bigger picture story of the entire Holocaust.

Visitors sample chocolate during a recent museum event.
The museum archives have more than 550 collections of documents, artifacts, photographs and oral histories from throughout the Holocaust, which is the time from January 30, 1933, when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, to May 8, 1948 (V-E Day), the end of the war in Europe. Some of the ongoing projects of the museum are outreach to elderly survivors, collecting survivor testimony (there is a video that plays for visitors), providing education and resources for local schools, and promoting an “Upstander” message.

So what’s an “Upstander” and how does that relate to us today? An Upstander is someone who takes action when he/she sees someone being bullied or treated unfairly. The opposite of a Bystander (who sees something happening but doesn’t do anything about it), Upstanders can take action in many different ways. An example we use with children is bullying. If you see a classmate being bullied, you don’t necessarily have to jump into the middle of a fight. But you can tell a parent or teacher. You can reach out to the kid who is being bullied and make friends with them. This message of taking action and truly caring about our fellow people is what I love about the museum.

Museum visitor listens to audio guide while
viewing part of the permanent exhibit
The museum is a self-guided audio tour that can take anywhere from 45 minutes to four hours depending on how many details you choose to listen to, whether you opt to sit through the Survivor testimony video, and how long it takes to go through the temporary exhibit room. Survivor and Museum Founder Mike Jacobs occasionally is there to talk about his book “Holocaust Survivor: Mike Jacobs’ Triumph Over Tragedy.” Groups can also arrange in advance to have a speaker present for their tour.

The temporary exhibit rotates every few months. Until August 25, the current exhibit is the artwork of Rita Blitt. Upcoming exhibits include “The Leo Frank Exhibit Revisited” from September 1 to December 31, 2013; “Kindertransport: Memory into History” from January 3 to February 28, 2014; and “Besa: A Code of Honor” from March 4 to May 30, 2014. More information on each exhibit can be found by clicking here.

Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance
211 N. Record St., Suite 100, Dallas, TX 75202
(214) 741-7500
info@dallasholocaustmuseum.org
www.DallasHolocaustMuseum.org

The museum is open 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekends. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $6 for active military with ID, and $6 for students ages 6-18. Children 5 and under are free. The audio guide is included in the price of admission.
Dr. Charlotte Decoster (left) provides wine to patrons during
a recent gallery viewing of Rita Blitt's artwork.


Location: 211 North Record Street #100, Dallas, TX 75202, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Freedman’s Cemetery Memorial

Image
The Dallas Uptown skyline looms behind the Freeman's Cemetery Memorial. I like this view because of the combination of past and present. On the corner of Lemmon Avenue and North Central Expressway lies an often overlooked piece of Dallas history. I myself drove past it several times in the years I lived in Dallas without realizing what I was driving past. From the outside, it appears to be nothing more than a green space or park intended to offer a little scenery. But those willing to walk up and examine it closer will find that the fenced off green area is actually a stark reminder of the city’s troubled past. These photos show the walkway toward the central monument. The figures pictured in the middle represent freed slaves.   A plaque next to Freedman’s Cemetery Memorial states that the area near what is now Uptown was once home to a settlement of freed slaves following the United States Civil War that was known as Freedmantown. In 1869, an acre of lan
Read more

DFW M'Antiques: Free Beer, Great Humor and Neat Stuff!

Image
A feminist walked into an antique store for men. No, that’s not the start of a bad joke. It’s what happened when I checked out DFW M’Antiques in the Bishop Arts District . DFW M’Antiques is like the treehouse with the “no girls allowed” sign after the boys become teenagers: It’s a place for the boys to escape to, but they clearly still want the girls to stop by and appreciate their cool clubhouse. In fact, the store has a section of women’s clothing and jewelry, and it’s clear within moments of talking to owner Compton Creel that the intent of marketing antiques to men isn’t a dig at the ladies. Based on these Yelp! reviews , the female patrons mostly appreciate the niche marketing tactic and enjoy the store all the same.             “We wanted a place that was just for guys to hang out,” Creel said, adding that they offer all patrons a free cup of beer as they shop. That “we” refers to himself and business partner Robert Owen. The pair have worked in the antique busin
Read more

J. Erik Jonsson Central Library

Hello Readers! *Author's note: I originally wrote this in 2014 and recently recovered the lost file. I hope you enjoy! Sorry, there are no pictures for this post. As some of you may know, I've been getting into the swing of things at my new job as a grant writer for a local nonprofit organization. As a result, I haven't had much time to update Dynamic DFW. Now that things are on an even keel at work, I am hoping to post regularly again, though it will likely be monthly instead of weekly due to time constraints. For this post, I wanted to focus on the  J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in Dallas. Named after Texas Instruments co-founder J. Erik Jonsson, the library is the heart of the Dallas Public Library system and has a few really neat features! Make a beeline for the 7th floor. There you can see: 1. An original broadside print from July 4, 1776 of the Declaration of Independence. This was basically one of the drafts handed out before the official Declaration
Read more